Method for blurring and unblur videos and photos in messages box of a communication application

ABSTRACT

A method for managing privacy of videos and photos recorded through a communication application by displaying a recording button on the touch screen of the user&#39;s mobile device, recording the video or photo and displaying it in the message box of the user and the contact, displaying on the mobile devices a blur button that is associated with the video or photo, applying on the video or photo a blur mode for blurring the video or photo, displaying on the mobile devices an unblur button that is associated with the blurred video or photo, applying an unblur mode on the blurred video or photo by using the unblur button on the user&#39;s mobile device when the blur mode was applied by the user&#39;s or by using the unblur button on the contact&#39;s mobile device when the blur mode was applied by the contact&#39;s mobile device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation in part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/746,966 filed on May 18, 2022, which is a continuation inpart of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/879,759 filed on May 21,2020.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention refers to a method for managing and protectingprivacy of videos and photos recorded through a communicationapplication.

BACKGROUND ART

Many users of mobile devices like to send to each other photos, videofiles or audio files. Sometimes the user wants to send to his contactsuch a file that contains sensitive information that the user wouldprefer that the contact will be unable to save the file, to forward itand to make a screenshot or screen recordation of the photo or thevideo. In addition, users of mobile devices are afraid to take picturesor to make videos of certain situations because they know that the filesof these photos and videos are saved on the mobile device and thirdperson can see them, even if they delete the files from the phone, andhackers or authorities may access their mobile and expose those files.The present invention provides a solution for such problems.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The intention of the drawings attached to the application is not tolimit the scope of the invention and its application. The drawings areintended only to illustrate the invention and they constitute only oneof its many possible implementations.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that shows the mobile device of the user(100), the mobile device of the contact (200) and the remote server(300), each one of them with a processing device (10).

FIG. 2 depicts the mobile devices of the user (100) and the contact(200) with the blur and unblur buttons.

THE INVENTION

The term “mobile device” refers to any kind of mobile device,smartphone, tablet or a computer that is designed to have an internetconnection and a camera. The term “processing device” refers to aprocessing device on a server or on the mobile devices, or both.

The main object of the present invention is to provide a method formanaging and protecting privacy of recorded or shared videos and photosfiles that is performed by processing devices (10) running on a mobiledevice (100) of a user, on a mobile device (200) of a contact of acommunication application and on a remote server (300). It is possibleto implement the present invention to several kinds of files, such asfiles of video films, files of audio recordings and photographs files,and the terms “video” and “photo” hereinafter and in the claims refersto video films, photos and audio recordings, and the term “shooting”means also taking or recording.

FIG. 1 depicts schematically the mobile devices of the user (100), ofthe contact (200) and the remote server (300), each one of them with aprocessing device (10), and FIG. 2 depicts the mobile devices of theuser (100) and the contact (200) with the blur and unblur buttons.

The present invention refers to a method for managing privacy of a videoor a photo recorded through a communication application that isperformed by processing devices running on the mobile devices of a userand of a contact of the communication application. The method mayinclude one or more of the following features:

(a) Displaying a recording button (53) on the touch screen (31) of theuser's mobile device (100).

(b) Recording a video or a photo that is designed to be displayed in themessage box (20) of the user and the contact in the communicationapplication. The recording can be executed by using the recordingbutton.

(c) Displaying in the message box the recorded video or photo that canbe viewed on the touch screens of the mobile devices of the user and thecontact.

(d) Displaying on the touch screen of the user's mobile device and onthe touch screen of the contact's mobile device a blur button (54) thatis configured to be associated with the recorded video or photo.

(e) Applying on the recorded video or photo a blur mode that is appliedby using the blur button on the user's touch screen or by using the blurbutton on the contact's touch screen. The application of the blur modeon the recorded video or photo is configured to blur the recorded videoor photo. The target is to enable the user and also the contact to blurvideos and photos that are displayed in their message box (the messagebox is in fact is a semi joint message box) so that they can take videosand photos together by using the mobile device of one of them (can be byusing the recording button (53)) so that the videos and the photos canbe blurred by each one of them so that each one of them, independently,can apply the blur mode.

(f) Displaying on the touch screen of the user's mobile device and onthe touch screen of the contact's mobile device an unblur button (55)that is configured to be associated with the blurred video or photo.

(g) Applying on the blurred recorded video or photo an unblur mode thatis applied on the blurred recorded video or photo by using the unblurbutton (55) on the touch screen of the user's mobile device when theblur mode was applied by the user's mobile device or by using the unblurbutton on the touch screen of the contact's mobile device when the blurmode was applied by the contact's mobile device. The application of theunblur mode is configured to unblur the blurred recorded video or photoso that the recorded video or photo can be viewed on the mobile deviceof the user and of the contact.

In such cases the user and the contact may wish that none of them maysave or forward the recorded video or photo, and therefore the methodmay further includes the steps of displaying a privacy button (56) onthe touch screen of the user's mobile device, and applying on therecorded video or photo a privacy mode that is applied by using theprivacy button (56). The application of the privacy mode on the recordedvideo or photo can be also automatically without using any button and isconfigured to cause the mobile devices to disable a possibility of themobile devices to execute a screenshot and screen recording of therecorded video or photo, to disable a possibility of the mobile devicesto save the recorded video or photo in the galleries (57) of the mobiledevices, and to disable a possibility of the mobile devices to share andforward the recorded video or photo.

It should be noted that it is possible that one icon will serve as twoor more buttons. For example, the blur button (54) after being activated(after blurring the video or the photo) can be changed and looksdifferently and serve as the unblur button (55). In addition, thebuttons can be hidden in the meaning that the function of the buttonscan be done simply by tapping on the touch screen or on part of it. Forexample, tapping twice on the video or photo will blur it and tappingtwice on the blurred video or photo will unblur it. The term “a video”in this disclosure and in the claims refers also to “a photo” and theclaims and the disclosure should be read and understood as applied tophotos as well.

Another aspect of the present invention refers to a method for managingprivacy of a video or a photo that is sent from a user to a contactthrough a communication application that is performed by processingdevices (10) running on mobile devices of the user and the contact (100)and (200) of the communication application, and this method comprisedthe following steps:

(A) Sending from the user's mobile device (100) to the contact's mobiledevice (200) a video or a photo that is designed to be displayed in themessage box (20) of the user and the contact in the communicationapplication.

(B) Displaying in the message box the video or photo that is designed tobe viewed on the touch screen (31) of the user's mobile device and onthe touch screen (32) of the contact's mobile device.

(C) Displaying on the touch screen of the user's mobile device a blurbutton (54) that is configured to be associated with the video or photo.

(D) Applying on the video or photo a blur mode that is applied by usingthe blur button on the user's touch screen. The application of the blurmode on the video or photo is configured to blur the video or photo inthe message box in the contact's mobile device.

(E) Displaying on the touch screen of the user's mobile device an unblurbutton (55) that is configured to be associated with the blurred videoor photo.

(F) Applying on the blurred video or photo an unblur mode that isapplied on the blurred video or photo by using the unblur button on thetouch screen of the user's mobile device. The application of the unblurmode is configured to unblur the blurred video or photo so that thevideo or photo is can be viewed on the mobile device of the contact.

The user can send to the contact in the communication application a photore video by using the privacy mode as explained above, and in additionto that the user can blur and unblued photos and videos that he has sentto the contact while these photos and videos are in the message box. Inthis way the contact can see in the dialog box the photos and videosthat he received from the user, although they are in a blurred state,and the user can control the state of the photos and videos (blur orunblur), according to his sole desire. All that while knowing that thecontact cannot take a screenshot, save the photo or the video in thegallery (57) or forward it, as explained above. This in a contrary tothe first option when the user or the contact make a video or takephotos by using the button in the message box, that make these videosand photos as a common videos and photos, means that they both ‘own’these videos and photos and therefore they both have the control to blurand unblur them.

The method subject matter of the present invention may be executed by asoftware application, such as a smartphone application, that may includeone or more of the following features:

(a) The method enables the first user and the second user to create avirtual group with a shared dialog box (20) (or a message box that boththe user and the contact can see on their mobile devices) that isdesigned to be displayed on the touch screens (31) (32) of the mobiledevices (100) and (200) of the first and the second users. For example,it is possible that the first user will find the second user in thesoftware application by a code or his or her phone number, as it is forexample in Telegram™, WhatsApp™ and the like.

(b) The first user can open the software application on his mobiledevice and take a photo, shoot a video or record an audio by employingthe camera and the recording system of his mobile device. It is possiblethat when the first user open the software application on the screen ofhis mobile device he will see relevant icons such as “photo” “video”“voice” for taking a photo, for shooting a video and for voicerecording. Then, the software application stores the file of the videofilm that the first user shoots by his mobile device solely and only onthe remote server (300). In this way, the first user feels safe andknows that if someone will steal his mobile device then the thief can'tsee the files and the video film, due to the fact that the files are notstored in the mobile device itself. Note, that it is possible that toenter the software application form the mobile device of the user willrequire a password.

(c) The method may displays on the dialog box (20) a link (40) to thefile, which is stored on the remote server (300). The first user canview the video film, possible simply by pressing or touching the linkand he may delete the link when he wishes to do so. It is possible thatthe link will be not only in the shared dialog box of the first userwith his contact, means the second user, but also in a private libraryon his mobile device that include links of such video films that thefirst user may take from time to time, and in this way the first usermay delete the link form the shared dialog box with his contact but tokeep the link in his private library for future viewing.

(d) The method enables the second user to select for viewing the linkthat is displayed on the shared dialog box. This may be possible forexample simply by pressing or touching the link on the screen.

(e) The method streams the video film from the server to the mobiledevice of the second user and plays it on the screen of the mobiledevice of the second user upon executing the selection for viewing asexplained above. It is possible that the method may include a feature sothat the video film can be streamed and played on the screen of themobile device of the second user only when the first user is online andin the shared dialog box, and by that the first user can make sure thatthe second user may watch the video film only in times that the firstuser agree and can control. But, it is possible that the method willable an option that the second user will have the ability to watch thevide film as long as the link is still in their shared dialog box, andin anyway the first user can delete this link whenever he wants.

(f) The method prevents the ability of the mobile device of the seconduser to make a screenshot when playing the video film on its screen, andby that the first user knows that the video film is safer. Indeed, thesecond user may make a photo of his mobile device by another camera, butthis is a risk that the first user may take when the sensitivity of thevideo film is important but not extremely high.

(g) The method prevents the abilities of the mobile device of the seconduser to save the file, to share the file or to forward the file toanother people. This is a part of making the first user to feel surerthat his video film will not be saved and distributed.

(h) The method may also provide to the first user an option to set thefile in a free mode or in a conjointly mode. Thus, upon setting the filein the conjointly mode, the method enables to display the link on theshared dialog box or enables the streaming and playing of the video filmon the screen of the mobile device of the second user only when thefirst user is online or is online and in the shared dialog box. Or, uponsetting the file in the free mode, the method enables to stream and playthe video film on the mobile device of the second user, also when thefirst user is offline.

The first user can shoot a video that is not going to be saved on hismobile device but only in the remote server, to put a link in the shareddialog box with his contact (second user), and enable the second user towatch the video, knowing that the contact cannot save the file norforward it, and the first user can at any time delete the link from theshared dialog box, and by that disabling the second user from watchingthe video again. This method allows users to transfer files moresecurely to one another.

Another version of the method, which is narrower, may include theability to shoot the video film by employing the existing camera andvoice recording means of the mobile device of the user and storingsolely on the remote server the file of the video film that the usershoots by his mobile device, displaying on the screen of the mobiledevice the link to the file that is stored on the remote server, andenabling the user to select for viewing the link and playing the videofilm on the screen of the mobile device. In this way, the user may takephotos, videos or make voice recordings and he feel safe that in casesomeone will steal his mobile device that person cannot view thesefiles.

The present invention refers also to a method for managing privacy of avideo or a photo recorded through a communication application that isperformed by the processing devices (10) running on a server (300) andon the mobile devices of a user and of a contact of the communicationapplication. The method includes the followings steps:

The method subject matter of the present invention is designed primarilyto be implemented in new or existing instant messaging softwareapplications (communication applications) such as Telegram™, WhatsApp™and the like. The method may include one or more of the followingfeatures:

(a) Displaying a (secret) recording button (51) on the touch screen (31)of the user's mobile device (100). The term “button” in this applicationmeans any icon or digital button seen on the touch screens of the mobiledevices that enable the users to take actions by touching, tapping orsimply using that buttons and the term “using” when related to suchbutton means for example any kind of way that activate the button suchas clicking, touching, tapping and the like.

(b) Recording a video or a photo by the user's mobile device (100) thatis designed to be displayed in the message box (20) of the user and thecontact in the communication application, and applying on the recordedvideo or photo a re-watch mode by using the secret recording button(51).

The term “message box” (20) means the digital place that the textmessages and the images (photos, videos and files) (and other messagessuch as voice message and media) are placed in the screen of the userand the contact when they are in a chat one with the other, and also anyother digital place in which the user and the contact can see forexample the media that they sent one to the other through thecommunication application, such media includes photos, videos, documentsand links that the user and the contact sent to each other through thatcommunication application.

(c) Displaying in the message box the recorded video or photo that canbe viewed on the touch screen (31) of the user's mobile device (100) andon a touch screen (32) of the contact's mobile device (200).

(d) The re-watch mode that is applied on the recorded video or photo isconfigured to cause the user's mobile device or the contact's mobiledevice to transmit the recorded video or photo to the server (300), andto cause the server to save the recorded video or photo in the server.

(e) Displaying on the touch screen of the user's mobile device and onthe touch screen of the contact's mobile device a re-watch button (52)that is configured to be associated with the recorded video or photo.

(e) Sending to the server a digital re-watch command from both mobiledevices of the user and of the contact by using the re-watch button.

(f) Receiving from the server the recorded video or photo that wasstored on the server to the mobile devices of the user and the contact.

(g) Posting in the message box the recorded video or photo that wasreceived from the server by using the mobile devices of the user and thecontact that digitally post in said message box of the user and thecontact the recorded video or photo upon receipt of the digital re-watchcommand received from both mobile devices of the user and of thecontact.

The user and the contact can be together for example and decide to shoota video or to take a photo. They can shoot the video or photo by one oftheir mobiles but through the message box of their communicationapplication. Means, like when the user wants to write a text message tohis specific contact he opens the chat with the contact and thennormally he can see several buttons such as an icon for recording avoice message, an icon for recording a video message, an icon forsending emojis and gifs, an icon for attaching photos and files, a placefor writing a text message and the like. In our invention, thecommunication application may have additional icons (button) for the(secret) recording button (51), for applying the blur and unblur mode,privacy and the like.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for managing privacy of a video or aphoto recorded through a communication application that is performed byprocessing devices running on mobile devices of a user and a contact ofthe communication application, said method comprising: (a) displaying arecording button on a touch screen of the user's mobile device; (b)recording a video or a photo that is designed to be displayed in amessage box of the user and the contact in the communicationapplication; (c) displaying in the message box the recorded video orphoto that is designed to be viewed on the touch screen of the user'smobile device and on a touch screen of the contact's mobile device; (d)displaying on the touch screen of the user's mobile device and on thetouch screen of the contact's mobile device a blur button that isconfigured to be associated with the recorded video or photo; (e)applying on the recorded video or photo a blur mode by using the blurbutton on the user's touch screen or by using the blur button on thecontact's touch screen, wherein the application of the blur mode on therecorded video or photo is configured to blur the recorded video orphoto on the mobile device of the user or on the mobile device of thecontact or on both; (f) displaying on the touch screen of the user'smobile device and on the touch screen of the contact's mobile device anunblur button that is configured to be associated with the blurred videoor photo; (g) applying an unblur mode on the blurred video or photo byusing the unblur button on the touch screen of the user's mobile devicewhen the blur mode was applied by the user's mobile device or by usingthe unblur button on the touch screen of the contact's mobile devicewhen the blur mode was applied by the contact's mobile device; whereinthe application of the unblur mode is configured to unblur the blurredvideo or photo so that the recorded video or photo is designed to beviewed on the mobile devices of both the user and the contact.
 2. Themethod for managing privacy of a video or a photo of claim 1 thatfurther includes steps of displaying a privacy button on said touchscreen of said user's mobile device, and applying on said recorded videoor photo a privacy mode by using the privacy button; wherein theapplication of the privacy mode on the recorded video or photo isconfigured to cause said mobile devices to disable a possibility of themobile devices to execute a screenshot and screen recording of therecorded video or photo, to disable a possibility of said mobile devicesto save the recorded video or photo in galleries in said mobile devices,and to disable a possibility of said mobile devices to share and forwardthe recorded video or photo.
 3. A method for managing privacy of a videoor a photo that is sent from a user to a contact of a communicationapplication through the communication application that is performed byprocessing devices running on mobile devices of the user and thecontact, said method comprising: (a) sending from the user's mobiledevice to the contact's mobile device a video or a photo that isdesigned to be displayed in a message box of the user and the contact inthe communication application; (b) displaying in said message box thevideo or photo that is designed to be viewed on a touch screen of theuser's mobile device and on a touch screen of the contact's mobiledevice; (c) displaying on the touch screen of the user's mobile device ablur button that is configured to be associated with the video or photo;(d) applying on the video or photo a blur mode that is applied by usingthe blur button on the user's touch screen, wherein the application ofthe blur mode on the video or photo is configured to blur the video orphoto in the message box in the contact's mobile device; (e) displayingon the touch screen of the user's mobile device an unblur button that isconfigured to be associated with the blurred video or photo; (f)applying an unblur mode on the blurred video or photo by using theunblur button on the touch screen of the user's mobile device; whereinthe application of said unblur mode is configured to unblur the blurredvideo or photo so that the video or photo is designed to be viewed onthe mobile device of the contact.
 4. The method for managing privacy ofa video or a photo of claim 3 that further includes steps of displayinga privacy button on said touch screen of said user's mobile device, andapplying on said video or photo a privacy mode by using the privacybutton; wherein the application of the privacy mode on the video orphoto is configured to cause said contact's mobile device to disable apossibility of the contact's mobile device to execute a screenshot andscreen recording of the video or photo, to disable a possibility of thecontact's mobile device to save the video or photo in a gallery in thecontact's mobile device, and to disable a possibility of the contact'smobile device to share and forward the video or photo.